New Delhi, Aug 25 (IANS) The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Tuesday apprehended two proclaimed offenders in two separate bank fraud cases and apprehended them after years of chase, the agency said in a statement.

The two accused, namely Jitendra Kumar and Pooja Pahwa were on the run for seventeen and four years respectively.

Accused Jitendra Kumar was involved in an incident of default of home loan in year 2002-03 as he secured loan on the basis of fake and forged salary certificates. This apparently resulted in loss of Rs 65.90 Lakh to GIC Housing Finance Limited. The bank account was however declared NPA immediately, after the disbursement of the loan.

The police, acting on complaints, filed chargesheet against the accused Jitendra Kumar and 18 others in 2006. He however evaded the trial proceedings and did not appear before the Court, since 2009. In 2013, he was declared a Proclaimed Offender (PO).

The investigative agency, kept up the heat and on back of sustained efforts to track down the fradusters, apprehended him from Delhi’s Dwarka Mor on August 25. He will be produced before the competent court for further proceedings as per law.

Another accused Pooja Pahwa came under the scanner over involvement in diversion and misappropriation of cash credit facility, availed on the basis of false and forged documents, leading to a loss of Rs 10.16 crores to the Indian Overseas Bank.

The account was declared NPA in 2012 and she was chargesheeted along with 5 others in 2017.

A supplementary chargesheet was filed against four bank officials for conspiring with the beneficiary company and individuals.

Investigation found that the accused Pooja Pahwa deliberately evaded the trial proceedings and did not appear before the court since 2022. A year later, she was declared a Proclaimed Offender (PO).

She was apprehended earlier this month, from Punjab’s Ludhiana, on back of sustained intelligence gathering. She is currently in judicial custody.

–IANS

mr/